While I was wasting my life at the Voice of America, I heard an interview on tape of some Russian explaining in broken English how he lived to be 100 years old. "Yogurt and whiskey,'' he explained.
I had to laugh.
Study the woman in the photo. That's my grandmother photographed in around 1995. It's in her apartment in Maryland. Based on that year, Grandma was 94-years-old. She still had plenty of life in her. A year later, she got herself on an airplane and flew to our wedding in Illinois. She even danced at the wedding at 95 years old. At 96, she flew by herself again to Switzerland to visit relatives.
Heck, most folks are dead by this time. Dead and buried. But not Grandma. Now what was her secret? She ate sparingly and loved fresh fruit. She drank even less having an occasional glass of wine. Grandma loved to say that if you have your health, you have everything.
That was true. Who wants to live with pain and misery? Well, like everyone, Grandma did get older and one day fell down. She made the usual trips to rehab and then it was decided she would move to a nursing home in Lake Zurich. That's where she celebrated her 100th birthday. I'll be honest, she didn't get really old until she made it to 101. She was able to see two of her great grandchildren grow up a little. She outlived both her husband and son so that was hard for her. She was really a great grandma to have.
Great grandmas leave such a hole when they're gone. My own knew Corey pretty well, but never met Tom, let alone the girls.
ReplyDeleteI had hoped to avoid getting old until turning 101, but I'm afraid it's too late.